Chinese EV maker Li Auto today announced that Wang Kai, the former global chief architect of American automotive electronics supplier Visteon, has been named its first chief technology officer with overall responsibility for the company's smart car-related technology development and mass production work.

These include Li Auto's electrical and electronic architecture, intelligent cabin, autonomous driving, platform development, and Li OS operating system.

Wang has 18 years of core technology development and management experience in the automotive and mobile phone industries and is a renowned expert in automotive electrical and electronic architecture, domain controllers, automotive smart grid, and autonomous driving.

Prior to joining Li Auto, Wang worked at Visteon for 8 years as Global Chief Architect and Director of Autopilot, where he was responsible for the planning and implementation of the company's software and hardware products.

Wang was also the core founding designer of SmartCore, the world's first production-grade cabin-centric domain controller, and DriveCore, an open and scalable automated driving platform.

"The automotive industry is likely to grow faster in the next five years than it has in the last 100 years. As an automotive technology company, we must find a top-notch CTO to orchestrate and plan the company's overall technology architecture to ensure it stays ahead of the competition down the road." Li Xiang, founder, chairman, and CEO of Li Auto, said.

"Wang is a top-notch architect with comprehensive and extensive hands-on experience in chips, systems, software, electrical and electronic architecture, smart cockpit and automated driving, and has the foresight to judge and think about the development of cutting-edge smart car technologies," Li said.

"He is one of the best and most qualified candidates we have seen for this role. We welcome Wang to the team," Li said.

Wang said, "The automotive industry is undergoing a dramatic shift from functional to smart cars, and is responsible for guiding the integration of the industry and technology on the ground. China's smart car industry has entered a phase of rapid development with better policies and market conditions. It is a great honor to be part of this excellent team."

Li Auto shares went up by 2 percent in pre-market trading.